A Familiar Man
by WeepingWhovian
Summary: Donna Temple-Noble is out with her Gramps when a strange man appears. Pre-Angels Take Manhattan just because.


**A/N:** I started this a long time ago and never finished it until now. So it might be a bit bad.

* * *

It was a nice, sunny day in London. Donna Temple-Noble was sitting on a bench in the park with her grandfather Wilfred Mott. They would talk about anything they found interesting. For her Gramps, that was often the stars in space. But Donna liked talking about that with him, because it seemed like he simply loved it.

Wilfred stood up. «I'm going to go and buy us some coffee. Wait for me here!» he said with a smile.

«Promise I won't go anywhere,» replied Donna with a grin. As she watched her grandfather walk towards the coffee shop, the woman stretched her legs long enough that they almost covered the whole path.

Deep in thoughts after a while, Donna wasn't aware of the pair of feet running towards her until a man tripped over her legs and fell face down on the ground.

Donna stood up quickly when she realized what had just happened. "Oi! Watch where you're going!" she shouted, then her face softened. "Are you all right?"

The man groaned and turned around, facing her. When he looked at her, it was as if he suddenly remembered something important and he sat straight up. "I'm fine, thank you," he said quickly. He stood up and started brushing dirt off his clothes. "Sorry about that."

Now that the stranger was standing upright, Donna studied him. He looked very odd; he was wearing a tweed jacket and shirt and a red bow tie. The man's hair was brown and floppy, and he slightly resembled a baby giraffe who couldn't quite manage to stay on his feet.

He also looked sad for some reason. Maybe she was mistaking it with embarrassment. It must have been very embarrassing for him to trip over some woman's legs like that and fall unattractively down onto the ground.

Feeling sorry for the man – and also a little curious because she felt like she had seen him before – Donna stretched out her hand. "I'm Donna, Donna Temple-Noble," she said with a friendly smile.

Suddenly, all traces of sadness or embarrassment were gone as the man took her hand and shook it. He looked very happy all of a sudden, like he had just met someone he hadn't talked to for a while. "Hello, Donna! I'm the- John Smith," he corrected himself, wearing a happy grin on his face.

"Nice to meet you! Sit down," she told him.

John Smith looked slightly reluctant and was probably about to refuse the offer, but Donna would not have it. "Come on! I don't bite. Sit down," she ordered him. She thought she heard him mutter something about not being sure about that, but eventually he sat down on the bench where her granddad had been sitting.

"So what were you doing running around like that?" asked Donna curiously.

"I was just chasing, uh, looking for someone. It can wait," replied John, fidgeting nervously with his hands and obviously not knowing where to put them. He eventually settled with folding them in his lap. "What about you, Donna Temple-Noble? What are you up to?"

"I'm just waiting for my Gramps. He's gone to get us a cup of coffee."

"That's lovely, he sounds lovely, your Gramps. Very lovely," said John with a smug grin, and Donna was reminded of someone, someone she couldn't seem to remember. It was like there was something stuck in the darkest corners of her mind.

Wilfred finally reached the pair. "Oh, hello there!" he said with a smile. "You a friend of Donna's? I'm Wilfred."

John Smith grinned at Wilfred. "Hello, Wilfred, I'm John Smith," he responded, shaking Wilf's hand.

"Say, have we met before, John?"

"Oh, I think we might have. I had an entirely different look at that time, though," said John and gave Wilfred a meaningful glance that puzzled Donna. Wilfred stared at him as though he'd seen a ghost. John stood up and shook Donna's hand again. "I have to say, it was lovely to meet you, Donna, and you, Wilfred, but I believe my mother-in-law is waiting for me!"

And then he walked away.


End file.
